1. It was one last attempt by the band to seem relevant amongst the new breed of pop stars obviously it irked a lot of the self absorbed millennials who saw it as musical terrorism but in the grand scheme of things it was a clever move by the band to get their music heard as it also renewed interest in their back catalogue all their albums went back into the top 50 of the iTunes charts .Interestingly Song for someone was the most popular song from SOI in terms of streams it got via iTunes and Spotify as it doesn't seem to be as popular with the hardcore fanbase.
  2. My recollection at the time was that I did not have the album instantly appear on my device / collection, because I had taken the time to go through my settings and turn off automatic downloads, and I think a few other options at the time. I had to watch it at work, and then go home and download it that night. It did not just appear. And seriously people, stop flogging the "without our permission" argument; it's all buried there in the Terms And Conditions that we all readily agree to without reading! Am I the only who for whom it didn't just appear?!
  3. It didn't go onto my phone automatically either, not sure why.

    At the time, despite the backlash, I still thought it was a fucking amazing move on their part. Yes there was a backlash, but that wasn't the point - U2 was in the news and everywhere, and even if it wasn't for the best of reasons, it didn't really matter. In fact, I'm pretty sure I remember reading at the time that despite the backlash, SOI's release coincided with a major jump in album sales of their older albums - so obviously it did something right.

    It's funny though, I'm sort of the opposite of this writer. I never thought it was a big deal at the time, and I loved SoI when it came out, but now years later, I kind of think SoI is a bit of a forgettable album. I realize I'm in the minority saying that, but I don't know. It reeks of over-production and too much time spent on the burner. Every Breaking Wave was infinitely better (to me) as it was when performed on the 360 tour (before the band stamped it into oblivion in the writing room), and the recordings themselves of a lot of the songs just sound too perfect, too digital. Raised By Wolves is a song that would've been fucking awesome with a more raw production/performance, but as it is, it's so damn sterile. I just never really feel like going back and listening to that album, whereas for me, Experience has a lot of REALLY good U2 songs on it.

    But I digress!


  4. I’m pretty sure ‘All My Life’ became ‘I’ll Go Crazy...etc.’ On NLOTH
  5. I can't hear it.

    Hope All My Life gets to see the light of day eventually. Maybe on Songs of Ascent
  6. Originally posted by mattfromcanada:[..]
    My recollection at the time was that I did not have the album instantly appear on my device / collection, because I had taken the time to go through my settings and turn off automatic downloads, and I think a few other options at the time. I had to watch it at work, and then go home and download it that night. It did not just appear. And seriously people, stop flogging the "without our permission" argument; it's all buried there in the Terms And Conditions that we all readily agree to without reading! Am I the only who for whom it didn't just appear?!
    I remember when Bono did the five second countdown with Tim Cook at the event they did mention it wouldn’t happen instantly, so I downloaded it myself onto my phone but I think if I had left it another while it would’ve appeared automatically. Could be wrong though...
  7. I am one of those who think that Bono should make a solo album experimenting with the opera
  8. U2 should do a tour with a string section. Two Shots, Sweetest Thing, UF, Kiss Me, Kill Me! etc.
  9. all my life